The following are examples of cleansing methods via washing with water or ablution, that require running water (water tap, shower). These are arranged in order from simplest to complex. The first three can be done by either cold or warm water, but the fourth one requires cold water and knowledge of banishing ritual.

1. State the intention to cleanse yourself.2. Wash the hands (left first then right).3. Cup the hands to collect the water and sip it, rinse the mouth and spit it.4. Dry the water from the hands and state gratitude.

-This is based on Japan's traditions, before we enter shrines or temples (at chouzuya 手水舎 or tsukubai 蹲踞), or even before entering tea ceremony room. -There's also a habit in Japanese family to wash hands and rinse the mouth when people come home. It odes promote hygiene in the family : )

----------------------------------------II. Washing Head and Limbs

1. State the intention to wash and cleanse away impurities. (Optional: chant/activate spells or prayers and call spirits, entities, or immortals related to water and/or cleansing for help).2. Wash the hands 3 times.3. Cup the hands to collect the water and sniff it to the nose, then blow it out, 3 times.4. Cup the hands to collect the water and sip it to the mouth, rinse and then spit, 3 times.5. Cup the hands to collect the water and spray it to the face, 3 times.6. Wash the lower forearms 3 times.7. Cup the hands to collect the water and spray it to the head, wash the hair, 3 times.8. Wet the hands and use them to wash and clean the ears inside and out, 3 times.9. Wash the legs, from the toes to knee, 3 times.10. State or offer gratitude for the water and the cleansing. Dry the water with clean cloth if necessary.

-This is based on Islamic tradition of ritual ablution (wudu وضوء or abdast آب‌دست), usually done before the salah صلاه worship (i.e. at least 5 times a day).-It is suggested that doing this washing can help alleviate emotional heat e.g. anger etc. due to cooling off the head and limbs. It also pays attention to places not commonly cared throughout the day, such as the nostril and the ears.

-----------------------III. Bathing

1. Go to toilet to take care of no. 1 and 2, make sure they're finished.2. Go to the washing place (bathroom etc). State the intention to wash, cleanse, and purify all impurities. (Recommended: chant/activate spells or prayers and call spirits, entities, or immortals related to water and/or cleansing for help).3. Wash hands 3 times. 4. Wash the private parts (front and back) and make sure all dirt and filth are gone. 5. Do Method II above, from step 2 to 9.6. Pour the water from the top of the head, make sure all skin at the path of water are covered and clean, 3 times.7. Pour the water from the right shoulder, make sure all skin at the path of water are covered and clean, 3 times.8. Pour the water from the left shoulder, make sure all skin at the path of water are covered and clean, 3 times.9. State or offer gratitude for the water and the cleansing. Dry the water with clean cloth.

-This is based on Islamic tradition of greater ritual ablution (ghusl غسل‎). It is usually done (i) after sexual acts including wet dreams, (ii) after menstruation and other vaginal bleeding, (iii) after child birth, (iv) for dead body, (v) after touching dead body, and (vi) for vows or oaths to do it.-There is an alternative simpler method, which is to immerse your whole body into the water and just rub all the skin. This replaces steps 3 to 8, but still need running water e.g. river, since still water such as in bathtub would become dirty.-It is technically taking a bath/shower : )

1. For preparation, at least on the day before, don't eat meat, drink alcohol, smoke, and any such activities (including sexual ones : P).

2. Since the ceremony is not to take a bath, at the morning, take a bath to generally clean the body. Do Method III if necessary.

3. Take off the clothes (until underwear or one piece of loose clothing if it's in public). State the intention to perform ritual purification in order to wash, cleanse, and purify all impurities. Chant/activate spells or prayers and call spirits, entities, or immortals related to Earth, nature, water, and/or cleansing for help.

4. Do spirit shaking exercise (furitama 降り魂). The purpose is to stimulate the center, i.e. the lower stomach/dantian/hara:i). Hold your hands, the right one over the left, and leave some space between them (imagine holding a small ball).ii). Position the hands in front of your stomach and shake them vigorously up and down. iii). Example can be seen in the first 5 second of this video (the rest is an example of calisthenic exercise): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFe81oGLSSs

5. Do some warm ups and calisthenics. The example in the video above is called torifune 鳥船 or rowing the bird boat. Push-ups, squats, etc are also good for this.

6. Perform formal invocations of the spirits, entities, or immortals whom you've called at Step 3, as well as prayers or spells. Visualize that you connect with them and receive their blessings, as well as connect with the energies of the spells plus the nature (Earth, water) and pull it. If you prefer not to involve any, you can do the prayers and the nature only.

7. Perform breathing exercises:i). First do the warming breathing exercises. One example is the fire breathing: http://www.kundaliniyoga.org/Pranayamaii). Then do calming breathing exercises. Focus on the lower stomach (lower dantian or hara), example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Uy9lVXz1siii). Lastly, face the water source (shower, waterfall, etc), bow and clap to signify readiness to move to the next step.

8. When entering the water source:i). We can sprinkle salt on ourselves, and rinse the mouth with alcohol drink and spit it 3 times.ii). Perform banishing rituals for cleansing ourselves as well as banishing negative influence from the placeiii). Enter the water by washing the legs first. Then spray water on the face, chest, and crotch area.iv). Bow and clap again toward the water source.v). Enter the centre of the water source to immerse all body parts with water (turn on the shower, go under waterfall, or dive into river, etc). Make sure we can breath.vi). Stay as long as possible, meditate while chanting something like "Purify all parts, all layers of my body, my spirit, my soul". vii). After we can't do it anymore, or it feels finished, get out of the water place and dry ourselves.

9. Wear warm clean clothes and go somewhere clean carefully. Meditate and feel until the shivering is gone and we can move freely.

10. To finish the ceremony, do a small "feast". Give offerings to the spirits, entities, or immortals whom you've called. Eat good food, drink good drinks, dance a good music, etc. and be gratitude for the completion of the ceremony.

-This is based on Japan's tradition of ritual purification (misogi 禊). Usually it is done once a year in certain places with running water e.g. waterfall, river etc., to purify all negative stuff the year before. For certain individuals e.g. priests, priestess, etc., it is done before special events e.g. ceremonies, festivals, etc.-There are different versions of doing misogi, based on the shrines, practitioners, etc. One example can be seen in Ann Llewellyn Evans' book "Shinto Norito: A Book of Prayers".-If you use alcoholic drink, it should be something pure and strong, e.g. sake, whiskey, etc., not beer or cocktail.-Steps 4-5 and 7 can be modified by other yoga/qigong practices related to it. For examples, there are various dantian rolling exercises from qigong (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSyjKOV_PGg ) that can replace the spirit-shaking exercises.-Invocation and banishing rituals depend on you, the formal ones you have learned.-You can just do Steps 8's v)-vii) of course, it still has health benefit or if you want to increase the immunity to stay in cold water : )

"Knowing a trifle about everything gives life more color." - Zhuge Liang"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson

V. Flower Bath(Requires flowers, salt, two buckets, a ladle/scoop, and bath tub (if you want to take your time))

Preparation:1. Prepare full-blooming fresh flowers. We can use one or several types of flowers. How many flowers it needs is more of personal preference (e.g. for 5 types of flowers, I tend to choose 3 for each type).2. Put the flowers inside a bucket and then pour water to the bucket until it's full. State the intention that the water is for cleansing and the flowers' energy is absorbed by the water.3. Place the bucket under the sunlight for some time, until the flowers look shriveled and fall to the bottom of the bucket. In a hot day, it may take 3-4 hours.

Main procedure:1. State the intention to wash, cleanse, and purify all impurities.2. Take a normal bath/shower first for general washing.3. Use another bucket, put 1-2 handful of salt inside the bucket and pour water into the bucket until it's full. State the intention to create salt water in order to cleanse any negativity and impurities while stirring the water.4. Use a ladle/scoop to take the salt water and pour it from the top of the head, the right shoulder, and the left shoulder, until it's finished.5. Take the bucket with the flower water. We can use it as it is, or pour it into a larger bucket or tub and then add more water. State the intention to cleanse and polish ourselves and bring the light from within.6. Use a laddle/scoop to take the flower water and pour it from the top of the head, the right shoulder, and the left shoulder, several times (until it's finished if you don't want to enter the tub).7. If you use bath tub, you can then enter the tub for 10-20 minutes and meditate/enjoy yourselves.8. Afterward, get out but don't fully dry ourselves. Let the remaining moisture dry naturally.

-This is based on Javanese tradition called mandi kembang. It is usually done for beauty, cleansing aura, and banishing bad lucks. Some ceremony also incorporate this flower bath, e.g. wedding ceremony.-The types of flower used traditionally is in odd number: 1, 3, 5, or 7. Examples of the 7 types are red rose, white rose, jasmine (Arabian jasmine), jasmine gambier (common jasmine), tuberose, white champaca (white sandalwood), and cananga (ylang ylang).-We can use cold or warm water for this.-Don't forget to put filter on or close the drainage, so that the flowers don't get stuck when you finish : )

"Knowing a trifle about everything gives life more color." - Zhuge Liang"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson

The statements of intent and gratitude in each ritual are supposed to be prayer/mantra to respective deities, but rather than making it tradition-specific rituals, hopefully these are more friendly for other traditions

"Knowing a trifle about everything gives life more color." - Zhuge Liang"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson